Archive of Our Own

October 30th, 1984

"Please welcome our new student, all the way from sunny California... Maxine Mayfield." The science teacher, Mr. Clarke introduces the new student.

The new student is a girl with long wavy red hair. She's wearing a green, white, and yellow striped shirt, light wash jeans, a red jacket that's zipped only halfway, red Converse, and she's holding a skateboard. She almost looks like a boy, but in a cool way.

"It's Max." The girl corrects him, mumbling a bit.

"What was that?" Mr. Clarke asks.

"Nobody calls me Maxine." The girl tells him. "Call me Max."

Another girl that uses a 'boyish' nickname? Cool! Mike thinks to herself.

Max passes Mr. Clarke and sits down at a desk in the back of the classroom. Mike waves to her with a friendly smile, and Max waves back, an annoyed look on her face.

What was she annoyed about?

At Recess, Max is skateboarding when two girls from her science class walk up to her.

One girl she recognizes as the one that waved to her. She has long curly black hair. She's wearing black jeans, a dark blue and grey striped sweater, and black Converse. She seems like an... interesting person.

The other girl has short curly brown hair. She's wearing a long sleeve grey shirt, blue overalls, a yellow flannel, and light grey Vans. She has a kind smile on her face.

"Hi, I'm Michelle Wheeler." The girl that waved to Max says, "But most people call me Mike."

Mike reaches her hand out for a handshake. Max takes it, and says, "I'm Max. It's nice to meet you."

"I'm Jane." The other girl says, reaching her hand out as well.

"Nice to meet you, Jane." Max smiles, shaking her hand as well. 

"It's cool to meet someone else that uses a boyish nickname!" Mike tells her. Max nods. "So, I was wondering if you would like to hangout sometime?"

Max thinks for a moment. She knows she can't bring anyone around her brother (well, half-brother) because he's an asshole, but it might be nice to hangout somewhere else. "Sure!" She decides, "I was planning on going to the arcade after school if you want to hangout there."

Mike looks at Jane and they appear to be having a silent conversation. Jane nods as if agreeing to something. "That sounds good." Mike says, "We'll see you later, Max!"

Jane and Mike walk away, probably to go hang out with their other friends. Max hops on her skateboard, happy to have possibly made new friends already.

Mike and Jane join Will, Lucas, and Dustin, who are hanging out by the side of the school. Lucas and Dustin are staring at something, and so is Will, but he looks a bit annoyed.

"We made a new friend." Mike tells them.

"Max, the new girl!" Jane adds.

"That's cool." Will says, smiling at the both of them.

Lucas and Dustin don't answer, still staring at something. Mike waves her hand in front of their faces, "Helloooooo? Earth to Lucas and Dustin!"

That snaps them out of their trances, "Huh?" They ask at the same time.

"Me and Mike made a new friend." Jane catches them up to speed.

Dustin and Lucas nod, acknowledging this information, but not sure how to respond. 

"What are you staring at?" Mike asks them.

"Nothing!" Lucas says too quickly.

"Your new friend." Will answers. 

Dustin grins, "You're friends with Max?" Mike nods slowly, unsure of where he's going with this. "Does she like us?"

Mike scoffs, "Oh my God! You like her?"

Lucas and Dustin nod, slightly blushing. "Ew, you two are so creepy." Jane tells them. "If you like her, just talk to her!"

"A lot easier said than done." Dustin says, sighing.

Mike rolls her eyes, "At least try. Don't be creepy."

Lucas looks past Mike, "Hey, look, she's going back inside!" He tells them.

"She dropped something in the trash." Dustin adds.

Lucas and Dustin share a look, and start running to the trashcan where Max dropped something.

"Jane, please go make sure they're not too creepy." Will instructs. Jane runs towards the boys, leaving Mike and Will alone. Will sighs, "Help me, they're literally insane."

Mike laughs a little, "Well, you can hang out with me, Jane, and Max at the arcade later." She offers, "I-if you want. I'm sure they won't mind." She adds.

Will smiles, "Yeah, that sounds nice."

When school ends, Max starts to walk out to the parking lot where her half-brother, Billy, is probably waiting for her.

One of the creepy boys who had been staring at her during recess stops her. "Hey! Max!" He calls out.

Max turns around, "What do you want, stalker." She asks.

"Look, I'm sorry about earlier. I was being kinda creepy." He says, "I made a bad first impression." He pauses, reaching out for a handshake, "My name's Lucas."

Max rolls her eyes, turning back around without shaking his hand. She doesn't want to be friends with a creepy boy.

"Max?" Lucas calls out for her, "Where are you going?"

"Away from you, creep." She answers.

She walks to her brother's car and gets inside. "What took you so long?" He asks.

"I had to get make-up homework." She lies, not wanting to tell him about Lucas. Mostly because he wouldn't care, but also because she knew he would make a crude remark about the color of his skin.

"Who was that boy?" Billy questions, starting the car.

"No one. We- we were just talking about a class project." Max lies again.

"Okay. Well, you know there are certain types of people in this world that you have to stay away from." Billy tells her, "And that boy is one of them."

"Yeah. Yeah, I know." Max says, "Can you just take me to the arcade."

"Fine."

Mike, Will, and Jane bike to the arcade after school. Max gets there a few minutes after them.

She yells at the driver of the car that she gets out of, and then flips them off before slamming the door. But she has a kind smile on her face as soon as she walks up to the girls and Will.

"Who's this?" Max asks, talking about Will.

"Uh- hey, I'm Will." He says with a small wave.

Max looks over at Mike, "Is he your boyfriend?" She whispers.

Mike blushes. Yeah, she's holding hands with Will, but that doesn't mean... "No!" She says, surprised at the question. 

"Oh, I just thought..." Max trails off.

"Let's go inside!" Jane interrupts, breaking the awkwardness of the conversation.

They take turns, trying to beat eachother on a buch of different games. Max wins almost every single game except for Dig Dug. Will and Max tie on that one. So, they have a rematch, and Will wins.

Mike turns and high-fives Will. Though, she notices something outside- Lucas and Dustin staring at them. She flips them off, and they run away.

October 31st, 1984

It's Halloween, and Mike arrives at school with Will and Jane, laughing as they sing the 'Ghostbusters' theme song. Mike and Will are dressed as Ghostbusters. Mike as Peter Venkman, and Will as Egon Spengler. Jane is dressed up as a ghost. They meet Lucas and Dustin at the bike racks. The two are dressed as Winston Zeddemore and Ray Stantz.

Mike doesn't think much of the fact that she's wearing a 'boy' costume. She just likes and relates to the character. Plus, she wanted to match with her friends.

"Who you gonna call?" She asks, referencing the song.

"Ghostbusters!" Her friends finish, large grins on their faces.

They park their bikes and walk into the school. That's when they realize-

"What the hell?" Dustin complains, "Everyone dressed up last year!"

No one else is wearing costumes.

A group of students laugh at them, "Who are you gonna call? The nerds!" They say, laughing as though it's the funniest thing in the world. "Of course Michelle's wearing a boy costume!"

Mike wants to curse them out, but she would rather not spend Halloween in detention.

Before she realizes it, Lucas and Dustin have left them. She looks around, but only sees Will and Jane at her sides. "Where'd they go?" She asks.

Will looks around, then points, noticing their friends, "Over there." He says, sounding a bit irritated.

Mike was about to ask him what was wrong, when she spots them. They're talking to a red-headed girl. Max!

She runs over to them, pushing them away. "Creeps!" She half-jokes. They make sounds of disapproval, but eventually walk back over to Will. Jane joins Mike and Max. "Sorry about them." Mike says. She's a total girls girl, even if it's her own friends that are the problem. Especially when her friends are the problem.

"Thank you for getting rid of them." Max smiles, grabbing her books out of her locker.

"No problem! They're annoying."

Jane laughs at that, "Yeah." She pauses, "Hey, Max?"

"Yeah?" Max turns to her.

"Would you like to go trick-or-treating with us tonight? Y'know, save us from the boys?" Jane asks, lightheartedly and genuine.

Max thinks for a moment, and for a second, Mike is worried she'll say no. "Sure!" Max says eventually, "That sounds fun."

"Okay!" Mike and Jane say at the same time. They turn to eachother and laugh.

"We'll meet at seven on Maple Street." Mike tells Max. She nods, noting the information.

After school, Mike hangs out at the Byers' house. She's with Will in his room, and Jane's in her own room, doing her homework.

Mike is laying on her back on Will's bed, her legs resting on the wall, her feet casually bumping into eachother at times. Will's sitting normally next to her, drawing in his sketchbook. They're still in their Ghostbusters costumes, but their proton packs are resting on the floor, against the bed. Mike's pant leg falls down to her knee, but she doesn't notice. She's too busy watching Will draw.

"What're you drawing?" She asks, always curious about Will's art.

"Chester." He says simply, not letting much emotion into his voice.

Chester was Will's dog. They had to put him down over the summer, and Will gets sad about it a lot. Mike does as well, but not as much. They had spent their entire childhoods with Chester. Ever since Mike met Will and Jane in kindergarten. She liked Chester a lot, even if it did get annoying when he jumped up on her.

Mike grabs Will's hand, trying to comfort him, "Hey it's-" Will leans against her knee, just to be closer for comfort. However, it doesn't go how he planned, and Mike falls over onto the floor. "Shit!" She exclaims.

"Shit- Mike- I'm sorry!" Will panics, reaching over to grab her hand and help her up.

"It's fine." She insists, standing up and sitting on the bed normally this time. She rubs her knee from where it scratched against the carpet.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

"Yeah! Just...carpet burn."

"Okay." Will says, and turns back to his drawing.

That leaves them in silence. It's comforting, in a way, but Mike really likes to talk. She thinks of what to say.

"Oh!" She suddenly blurts, getting Will's attention, "Me and Jane invited Max to go trick-or-treating."

"Okay," Will then asks, "You and Jane are getting to be good friends with her?"

Mike thinks about it for a second, "Yeah. I mean, she's cool and she's a lot like me. She uses a 'boyish' nickname too, and likes a lot of 'boyish' stuff." She does air quotes when she says 'boyish' because she believes girls can like the same things that boys do and vise versa. "I guess it's just cool that I'm not the only 'weird' girl anymore, and I like to be friends with people like me."

Will looks over at her, "You know you're not weird just because you like 'boyish' things, right, Mike?"

She disagrees, "I am! I am weird! I'm different and I don't understand why people are so...mean about it." Her mouth is moving faster than her brain, so she can't stop herself before saying what she didn't want Will to know. A tear runs down her face and she turns, burying her face in Will's shoulder. "I'm sorry." She sobs. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

Will drops his sketchbook and hugs Mike. He runs one hand through her long curls. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Mike. There's nothing wrong with you. You're different, and that's okay. It's okay." He assures her.

Mike hadn't realized how much she needed to hear that. She pulls away from the hug, looking at Will through her tear dusted eyes. "Thank you." She mumbles.

He gives her a reassuring smile, which makes her smile back. How could she not be happy, seeing Will smile?

Around seven o'clock at night, Mike, Jane, and Will meet up with the others at Lucas' house. They each have a pillowcase to fill with candy. Max isn't there, but they're sure that she'll catch up to them.

"Are we ready to go?" Lucas asks.

Everyone nods, "Yeah!"

"Are we gonna get a ton of candy?" Dustin asks, trying to hype everyone up.

"Hell yeah!" They all exclaim, smiling.

They start walking down the street, and walk up to the first house. Jane rings the doorbell. An old lady answers, and they all shout, "Trick or treat!"

"Oh how cute are all of you!" She smiles grabbing the candy bowl and giving them each a handful, "Little exterminators and a little bug!"

They just smile and nod, taking the candy. As they walk back through her yard, to the street, they complain.

"Exterminators?! Seriously?!" Mike questions.

"I'm not a bug!" Jane complains. "I'm a ghost! That should be obvious."

"I kn-" Lucas cuts himself off with an ear-splitting scream. He sounds a bit like a girl.

Turns out he got scared because someone hiding in a bush had grabbed his leg. This becomes clear when someone dressed as Michael Myers stands up next to him, giggling. 

They pull their mask off, revealing themselves to be none other than Max. She's still giggling as she tells Lucas, "You sound like a girl!"

"I do not!" He argues.

"Sure..." The rest of them tease.

Lucas rolls his eyes, "Whatever."

Mike and Jane walk over to Max, walking ahead of the rest of the group. Jane is still complaining about being called a bug, and Max is still laughing about Lucas' scream. They're still at it after they get candy from the next house.

"Oh my God." Mike complains, "Jane, she was just an old lady. Don't blame her, she didn't know." She tells her. She turns to Max, "And you. You totally have a crush on Lucas!"

Max blinks, still not having pulled her mask back down. "I do not!" She objects. 

"Uh-huh." Mike teases. Max pulls her mask back down, hiding her face.

They walk to the next house, still ahead of the boys. Mike rings the doorbell this time. "Trick or treat!" They exclaim in usion. A handful of candy is given to each of them and they thank the person standing in the doorway.

A little while, the boys complain to the girls, "Are you actually going to hang out with us or just... do girl stuff." Dustin asks.

Mike slows her pace, letting her friends catch up to her. "Sorry." She says.

Will takes her hand, "It's okay." He tells her.

Lucas and Dustin glare at them. Mike doesn't know why.

Around nine o'clock, they decide to stop trick-or-treating. Their pillowcases are full of candy, and they're all tired. Jane and Mike decide to have a sleepover and invite Max. She agrees. They bid goodbye and goodnight to the boys. Mike gives Will a goodbye hug, then the girls start walking to Mike's house.

When they're away from earshot of the boys, Max says, "You totally like Will."

Mike feels blush creep up her face, "I- what? No! We're just friends! Best friends!"

"Uh-huh." Max imitates Mike from earlier.

"Nuh-uh!"

"Uh-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Uh-h-"

"Just stop." Jane interrupts, begging. "It doesn't matter if you have a crush or not!" She sighs, "Can we just have a fun girls night tonight?"

Mike and Mad stop arguing and nod. This girls night sleepover is going to be so fun. Usually it's just Mike and Jane. Sometimes Mike's older sister, Nancy, too.

They arrive at Mike's house and Max immediately realizes something, "I should tell my parents where I am." She says. Under her breath she mutters, "Not that they really care." Then she asks, "Can I use your phone?"

"Oh, yeah." Mike tells her, "It's in the kitchen."

Max walks into the Wheeler's kitchen and takes the phone off the wall. She dials the number to her house phone, and brings it up to her ear. It rings.

"Hello?" Someone answers. Billy.

"Uh- yeah, hey, it's Max." She says, "Can you tell my mom that I'm staying at my friend's tonight?"

"So, I'm rid of you for the night?" Billy asks. He's not joking. "Yeah, I'll tell your mom." He hangs up.

Max hangs the phone back on the wall and joins her new friends who are sitting on the stairs, waiting for her.

"That was quick." Jane notices.

"Yeah." Max says, "I just told them I was having a sleepover with my new friends. They said, 'okay, have fun' and then hung up." She lies.

"Okay."

They head upstairs and change out of their costumes into pajamas. Max and Jane have to borrow from Mike since this was an unplanned sleepover.

When they've all finished changing, Jane sits on Mike's bed, "Why do you have to only wear boys clothes?" She complains.

"When did you start complaining about everything?" Mike counters.

"Since there started being so much to complain about." Jame says plainly.

"I don't mind." Max tells Mike. "I wear boys clothes, too."

"Yeah, I noticed." Mike says, a smile on her face so it doesn't seem rude. "Like your costume."

"I mean, sometimes a girl just wants to be a guy, right?"

"Yeah!" Mike exclaims, glad that someone finally understands her. "Right, Jane?"

Jane looks at both of them, extremely confused, "Uh, no?"

Max and Mike's faces drop. "What? You don't feel like that?"

Jane arches her eyebrow in a confused way, "No?"

"Oh." Mike and Max share a look. They both realize that maybe there's something wrong with the both of them. Though neither of them is quite sure what, exactly.

Jane claps her hands together, suddenly getting a thought. "Let's paint each other's nails!"

Mike grabs her nail polishes out of the bathroom, and they paint their nails. Jane does Mike's, Mike does Max's, and Max does Jane's.

Jane paints Mike's nails dark blue, and puts a few pale yellow stars on a few of them. Mike is incredibly jealous of both of the Byers' twins artistic abilities.

Mike paints Max's nails every color of the rainbow. It's sloppy, nowhere near as pretty or detailed as Jane had painted on her nails. Max doesn't seem to mind.

Max paints Jane's nails a nice, pale purple. She adds dots of white as well. It's simple, but pretty.

After their nails dry, they snack on a few pieces of candy, and gossip. Max tells them about her life in California, and Mike and Jane tell her about their life in Hawkins.

Mike learns that Max has been skateboarding almost as long as she could walk. Her favorite color is teal, and her favorite candy is Skittles.

Max learns that Mike's favorite color is blue, in contrast to most girls liking pink. Jane's favorite color is purple. Mike's favorite candy are KitKats, and Jane's are M&Ms. Jane really likes eggos, and Mike strangely likes to put syrup on her eggs.

At eleven o'clock, Mike's mom tells the girls that they have to go to bed since it's a school night. They all crawl into Mike's bed, despite it being a twin size. None of them want to sleep on the floor, so they make it work.

Mike's pushed against the wall, Max is comfortable in the middle, and Jane is clinging to her, trying to not fall off the bed. They giggle for a little while, but eventually fall asleep.

November 1st, 1984

Max is the first to wake up in the crowded bed. Which is unfortunate because she's stuck there until someone else wakes up. Mike has drooled on the pillow. Gross. Jane is curled up very close to Max, her head resting on Max's chest. 

She hopes the other girls wake up soon. It's not pleasant being stuck with just her thoughts.

Last night, Jane had said that she never felt like she wanted to be a boy. Max has always felt like she wanted to be a boy, but she thought it was just normal.

Back in California, most of her few friends were boys, and the couple of girls that she was friends with, were lesbians. They had told Max that sometimes they wanted to be boys, only proving her point that it was normal.

Maybe Jane was the different one? 

But-

Mike's yawning snaps Max out of her train of thought. She looks around, then seems to suddenly remember why the three of them are all in the same bed. 

"Morning." Mike says, realizing that Max is awake as well.

"Morning."

Mike looks over Max, then she groans, "Ugh, I gotta use the bathroom."

Max scoots away slightly, "Crawl over her then. Don't wake her up, but also don't you dare-"

Mike interrupts her, "Ew, that's gross. I won't." She kicks the blanket off of herself and carefully crawls over Max and Jane, successfully not waking her up. She leaves the room, and Max decides that she should wake Jane up since they have school.

She tries shaking her shoulders gently, but it doesn't work. Jane is still fast asleep. "Jane, wake up." She says softly. "Jane!" She still doesn't wake up.

Mike comes back in the room, yawning loudly, and walks over to her chest of drawers, looking for clothes for all of them. She slams one of the drawers shut- hopefully on accident- and it wakes Jane up.

"Jesus!" Jane shouts, "There's thing called being quiet!" She scolds Mike.

"Eh, you needed to wake up anyway." Mike says, throwing clothes at her.

Jane scoffs, being used to this absurd behavior from her friend. She stands up and stretches, looking at the clothes that Mike picked out.

Max stands up too, finally free to do so. She stretches, then notices something on her shirt. "Oh, gross!" She complains "Michelle, you drooled on me!" Mike glares at her, "Oh, I'm sorry, I mean, Mike." Max corrects, knowing the feeling and hating herself for using the wrong name.

Mike throws some clothes at her, aiming for her face, but underestimating Max's ability to catch.

Jane looks at the clothes that Mike gave her, "These are actually quite nice." She notes. "Wait.. these are literally mine. I've been looking for these, Mike!"

"Oh, sorry!" Mike says genuinely. She grabs some clothes for herself and shoos the other girls out of her room so that they can all change.

They all walk to school together, as Mike and Jane left their bikes at Lucas' and Max left her skateboard at home. When they get there, they all separate to go to their own lockers.

Mike is just trying to get her books out, when Dustin, Lucas, and Will appear behind her. She doesn't notice until she sees Dustin's curls out of the corner of her eye. She yelps, and falls into Will's arms. Neither of them move, even though they probably should.

"I tried to stop them." Will whispers.

Mike is about to ask what he means, when Lucas speaks, answering her question.

"Hypothetically," Lucas starts, "How would I-"

"Ask a girl out." Dustin finishes for him.

Mike blinks, confused for a second. She really has to think. "Why are you asking me?"

"I mean, you're a girl?" Lucas says, confused, "How would you like to be asked out?" He quickly adds, 'Not that we're asking you out!"

Mike scoffs, "Uh, do I look like a girl to you?" She asks.

They all fall silent, and Mike realizes what she said. She covers her mouth and feels tears starting to form in her eyes. She squirms out of Will's arms and runs down the hallway, not even bothering to shut her locker.

She runs down the hall to the girls bathroom, and goes into the big stall, locking the door. Slumping down against the wall, she sits on the cold disgusting bathroom floor. She doesn't even care. Tears are rushing down her face.

'Uh, do I look like a girl to you?'

Why had she said that? What was the point? She is a girl! What was she thinking? Sure, she wishes she was a boy sometimes, but that's normal! Right? Max said that she's wishes she was a boy sometimes, so that means it must be normal! But Jane said the opposite... Was Michelle Mike weird for wanting to be a boy?

She's crying hard now. She has her knees pulled against her chest, and her forehead pressed between her knees. Her long hair is surrounding her like it's a curtain. She let's herself cry, focusing on it rather than her thoughts. 

That's when the bathroom door bursts open, a somewhat familiar voice fill the room. "Mike? Where are you? Are you okay?" It's Max. She sounds genuinely concerned. There's footsteps coming closer, but Mike doesn't say anything, nor does she move.

Max bangs on the stall door, trying to open it- to no avail. Instead, she crawls underneath the space between the door and the floor. She sits down next to Mike.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She asks, genuine concern coating her voice.

Mike wants to answer, but her words are replaced by sobs. "I-" sob, "I-" sob.

Max reaches her hand out and places it on Mike's arch back, "Take your time. It's okay." She says, "Everyone's looking for you. They want to know if you're okay."

Mike shakes her head in response. "No." She manages to say.

"What's wrong?" Max repeats, trying to not push Mike to say something that she doesn't want to. "I know... I know that I haven't known you for that long, but you... You can talk to me."

Mike nods, then sits up and tries wiping her tears. It doesn't really work because she's practically crying a river, but it's worth a shot. "I think... I think..." A pause while she thinks, "I don't know. I- I said something... weird, and now I'm questioning my whole life." She manages to get out.

Max doesn't want to ask incase it upsets Mike, but she's just so curious, "What did you say?"

Mike glares at her, then sighs, "I- I said... 'do I look like a girl to you?'" she tells Max, "I don't know why. Because I am a girl! But..."

"But sometimes you wonder what it would be like to be a boy, and sometimes wish you were one?" Max finishes, understanding what Mike was trying to say.

"Yeah." Mike breathes out, "Exactly that." She breathes in sharply, stopping her crying, "I think... I think- fuck- I think I am a boy." She exhales.

"Me too." Max mumbles, looking away. "I don't fully understand it... But I'm pretty sure that's what I'm feeling."

Mike turns and hugs her- him unexpectedly. It's nice. Not many people have hugged her- him like this before. Mike pulls away, "Should we tell the others?" He asks.

"Maybe. How do you think they will react?" Max asks.

"I don't know." Mike says honestly, "They seem fine with me acting like a boy, but this... This is so much different." He pauses, "I don't want to lose my friends."

"Well, if you do, you've still got me." Max says, slightly smiling. "But, we should go to class now."

Max and Mike walk into science class. Everyone stares at them oddly as they take their seats. Mike sits next to Will, and he immediately hands her- him a few pieces of paper and her- his books.

"I took your notes for you." Will whispers, smiling, hoping it will put Mike in a better mood.

"Thank you." Mike whispers back, so grateful to have Will in his life.

"Of course."

Mike immediately snaps into focusing on the class, but it's a little hard when his foot meet's Will's under their desks. He smiles slightly, trying to ignore it, but knows that he's blushing.

"Can we... talk? At recess?" Will asks quietly. Mike doesn't really want to, because she- he knows what it's about, but he nods anyway.

Reluctantly, Mike finds Will at recess so that they can talk. He's standing by a brick wall, leaning against it, waiting for Mike.

"Hi." Mike says, starting the inevitable conversation.

"Hey," Will starts, "You know you're allowed to talk to me, right?"

"Yeah," Mike says, looking down sheepishly, "It's just... hard sometimes. Not- not to talk to you, specifically, just... Hard to say some things out loud, y'know?"

Will nods, understanding, "About what you said earlier-" Mike groans, but knows that they have to talk about it. "Mike,"

"I'm sorry." Mike steps away a little bit. Nervous.

Will grabs his arm, "Hey, come here." He pulls Mike into a hug, "You know I love you no matter what, right?"

Mike nods, her- his head laying against Will's chest even though Will's only a little bit taller than he is. "I- I don't even know why I said that. I mean, I do... But- but I also don't. That probably doesn't make sense."

Will holds him closer, "Mike, you're allowed to be confused. You're allowed to be confusing. I just want you to talk to me."

Mike sniffles a little, trying not to cry, "I know. I promise I will whenever I figure... this out." He vaguely gestures to himself. 

"Okay." Will lets him go, but Mike refuses to move, enjoying the hug.

"Uh-uh." He says, burying his face in Will's shoulder.

They stay like that until recess is over. Thankfully, no one pays them any attention.

December 1st, 1984

It's been a month since Mike had cried in that bathroom stall. She- he had been hanging out with Max a lot, talking about it. They had cut each other's hair, much to their parent's disagreement and their friend's surprise. Mike had gathered all of his 'girly' clothes and put them in a box in his basement, saving them for when his little sister, Holly, is older.

He's gotten used to calling Max a boy, but sometimes he still mentally mis-genders himself on accident.

Max had come out to their friends a week ago, and everyone took it well, calling him by the right pronouns and name. Mike decided that today would be the day he told everyone, because he was no longer scared. It was Saturday, so they were all already coming over for a D&D campaign. 

Mike scrambles out of bed, over to her- his dresser and picks out something to wear. He doesn't really care about his clothes, as long as he doesn't look too much like a girl. He eventually decides on black jeans, a light blue flannel that he stole from Will- oops- and a dark blue sweater.

He runs downstairs for breakfast, hoping he woke up late enough for his family to already be done, and he could eat alone. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

"Good morning, Michelle!" His mother says, sounding cheerful as she cooks scrambled eggs. Mike mentally groans at the name.

Politely, he returns the greeting, "Morning."

She- he sits down at the kitchen table, next to Nancy, waiting for breakfast to be ready. Nancy doesn't say anything, she's too busy reading whatever new book she got. A few minutes later, plates are on the table, bacon and eggs for Mike and Nancy.

Mike grabs the syrup that his mom had put on the table, already knowing that Mike would want it. He covers his eggs in syrup, much to his sister's complaint. "Ew, Mike, that's disgusting!"

He sticks his tongue out at her, putting the syrup back down, "You don't have to eat it!"

"It's still gross." She mumbles, grabbing a piece of bacon.

Will's the first to arrive for D&D, so he helps Mike set up. Mike's bringing snacks down into the basement, from the kitchen, when Will says, "You look extra nervous today."

Mike shrugs, "Oh- it- it's nothing." He lies, knowing damn well that he is extremely nervous to tell his friends... well, the thing he has to tell them.

Concerned, Will doesn't buy it. "Mike..." He pushes.

"I'm fine, Will." Mike insists, setting the snacks down.

"I-"

He doesn't get a chance to finish that thought before Dustin and Lucas burst through the door. They immediately run up to Mike, startling her- him.

"Mike!" They exclaim at the same time.

Mike turns around, startled, "What?"

Lucas and Dustin are panting like they ran all the way there. Dustin tries to say something, but overall fails, so Lucas takes over. "I-if I like Max... even though he's a boy now... What does that make me?" He asks.

Confused, Mike narrows his eye, scrunching his eyebrows, "I don't know! Why do you expect me to know?!"

"I- uh- d- um.." Dustin stutters, unable to put his thoughts into words.

Again, Lucas speaks for the both of them, "We were just confused and you're the first person we saw."

"Okay, well I don't know! Nor do I care." He pauses, realizing that it unintentionally sounds rude, "I don't care who you like, and you don't have to put a lable on it."

Dustin and Lucas are stunned for a moment, "Oh." They both think for a few minutes, while Mike and Will finish setting up the game. "Thank you, Mike." Dustin says finally, torturing him with a hug.

Mike wiggles away. He's only fine with Will hugging him, and sometimes Jane or Max. He has never really said it out loud though, so he doesn't get mad at his friends for randomly trying to hug him. Even if it is annoying.

Finally, Jane and Max run down the stairs to the basement.

"Hey, nerds!" Max greets, trying to make his voice deeper to sound like a boy.

"Says the skater boy that just so happened to want to learn D&D." Mike teases.

Max shuts up, unable to argue with that. They all sit around the table, and teach Max how it works.

They played a full campaign, lasting until seven o'clock at night. Surprisingly, they won, but that could have been because Mike was so lost in thought that she- he was just going along with everything they said.

After all the cheering settles down, Mike stands up and clears his throat. Everyone looks at him, immediately making him nervous. "I- I need to tell you guys something really important."

Jane looks up at him, "What is it?" She asks.

Mike moves over and sits on the couch in the corner of the basement. Tears are forming in his eyes as his friends gather around him. "I don't- I don't really know how to say this." He pauses, trying to breathe. "Max already knows. I told him first." His friends look at him, already suspecting what it is that he's trying to tell them. "Shit- I didn't think this was so hard to say." She- he sobs, covering his face with his hands.

He feels the couch dip beside him, and then an arm drapes over him. He hears Will's voice, "It's okay, Mike. Take your time." Mike leans against Will's shoulder, his hands still covering his face.

"I'm a boy." He suddenly blurts, "Like Max." Mike uncovers his face, and sees all of his friends smiling at him. They have their arms out, about to hug him, and he shuts his eye, "And I don't like hugs!" Will's arm moves slightly, pulling away, but Mike tugs him back. "Except from Will." He says, his voice a bit quieter. He opens his eyes, looking at his friends again.

"It's okay, Mike." Lucas assures him. "Uh- do you still want to be called that?"

"Yeah." Mike says, "Just maybe for 'Michael' instead of 'Michelle'?" He laughs nervously, trying to turn it into a joke.

"Okay." Dustin says, "Okay, Michael." He tries out the new name. "It fits you." He smiles.

Mike smiles back.

"I'm proud of you." Max tells him.

"Yeah, me too." Jane grins, "I kinda already knew."

Mike blinks at her, then the rest of the party nods. "Oh, fuck you guys!" He rolls his eyes, "It was not that obvious!"

"It kind of was..." Will whispers.

Mike would have flipped them all off if it wasn't for Will holding him. He had trapped Mike's arms at his sides, whether intentional or not. Instead, he sticks his tongue out at them, making them all laugh.

They laugh for a while, telling Mike how obvious it was, and when they noticed it. Apparently, most of them realized he was transgender before Mike did himself, which completely baffled him.

Another half hour later, Lucas, Dustin, Max, and Jane go home. Will insisted on staying with Mike. They were still cuddled up on the couch, but Will had let Mike's arms free. 

"So, hypothetically..." Will starts, "If I like someone even though they're a boy now-"

Mike groans, "Oh my god."

Will laughs, then kisses his cheek.

"Oh my god." Mike breathes out, completely stunned.

"S-sorry-" Will stutters.

"No!" Mike interrupts, shifting to face Will, "I- I liked it." He blushes.

"Oh." Will says, blushing as well. They stare at eachother for a long moment, taking this all in. "So...would you- would you like to be my... my boyfriend? And my date to the snowball- maybe?" He asks, a little awkwardly. 

Mike nods eagerly, "Yeah. Yeah, that sounds amazing." He says, almost too quickly.

"Cool." Will smiles.

"Cool."

He's so happy. Happy that he was brave enough to tell his friends about this very important part of himself. Happy that his friends see him as a boy. Happy that he's gets to be someone's boyfriend. Will's boyfriend.

December 3rd, 1984

Max is trying to get her- his books out of his locker, when Lucas Sinclair approaches him. He doesn't notice at first, but then Lucas clears his throat.

"Holy shit!" Max gasps, spooked by the boy's sudden appearance.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" Lucas says, "I wanted to ask you something."

Max rolls his eyes, "What is it, stalker?"

"Do you... um, do you want... to- to go to the Snowball with me?" Lucas asks, not looking at Max. Clearly, he intimidates him.

Max thinks for a moment, unable to decide. Sure, the boy is... kinda cute, and he seems kind, but... does he really want to go to the Snowball with him?

"Can I think about it?" He asks finally.

"Yeah! Yeah, sure, Max. That's fine." Lucas gives him a slight smile, then walks off to his own locker.

Max starts walking to class, only to be stopped by Dustin.

"Hey, Max!" Dustin greets.

"Uh, hey?"

"So..." Dustin starts, "You know how the Snowball is coming up?"

Oh, shit.

"Yeah?" Max encourages the other boy to keep talking.

"How would you like to go with me?" Dustin asks.

Max takes a deep breath, his answer already prepared in his head, "Let me think about it."

Dustin seems like that answer is good enough for him. He smiles and walks off to his next class.

After school, Max hangs out with Mike and Jane at Mike's house. They're in the basement, playing card games with some random movie in the background. None of them are watching it, too focused on the game.

"Are either of you going to the snowball?" Jane asks after her turn.

"Oh, yeah, I am!" Mike says excitedly as he draws a card. "With Will!"

"So that's who he's going with!" Jane looks as if she's putting pieces of a puzzle together in her brain. Mike hums, as if asking what she means. "He said he was going with someone, but he wouldn't tell me who."

"Oh." Mike replies, his voice dropping the excited tone, "Maybe he didn't want me to tell anyone... Neither of you say a word to him about this!"

Max and Jane laugh, though Max's laugh dies out quickly. "I might be going." He tells them, "I haven't decided."

"What do you mean?" Jane asks.

"Both Lucas and Dustin asked me to go with them. I told them I'd think about it, and I do want to go, but I don't want to disappoint either of them." Max explains, taking his turn.

"Well, who would you rather go with?" Mike asks, even if it doesn't help much.

Max thinks for a moment, "Lucas." He says.

Mike cheers, "Ha! I knew it! I knew you liked him!"

"Shut up, Michael!"

"Yeah, yeah." Mike rolls his eyes, "I think you should go with him, since you said you wanted to. You shouldn't have to worry about disappointing other people just because of your decisions."

"Yeah, you're right." Max actually smiles. "What about you, Jane?" He asks, "Are you going with anyone?"

Jane looks away, "No. I don't- I don't really get the appeal of a relationship, even just for a dance. I'll probably go, just... without a date." She says.

"That's valid." Mike tells her, "Whatever you want to do."

Jane looks back at them and smiles, then she looks at the game, realizing she's losing. "Oh, come on!" She complains.

December 4th, 1984

This time, Max is the one to appear at Lucas' locker. "Hey." She- he says, startling the other boy.

"Jesus fucking mother of god!" Lucas screeches, "We have got to stop scaring eachother like this."

Max laughs, "Yeah." He agrees, "Um, I just wanted to say... I've- I've thought about it, and yeah. I want to go to the snowball with you."

Lucas shuts his locker, "Oh! That- that's- that's nice." He says, stumbling over his words.

"'Nice'?" Max questions, teasing. "Really, stalker?"

"I- I mean, that's really cool! I'm looking forward to it!" Lucas corrects.

Max laughs, "I was teasing." Then, he leans over and kisses Lucas' cheek. He walks away before Lucas can say anything even more embarrassing.

Next, he has to figure out how to tell Dustin that he doesn't want to go with him. Dustin's very nice, but Max likes Lucas. 

Not looking where he's going, he accidentally bumps into Dustin.

"Sorry!" Dustin apologizes like it's his fault, then continues walking like it was nothing.

Max stops him, "Hey, um... I- I thought about it. I'm not- I don't want to be rude, but I'm going to the Snowball with someone else." He tells Dustin.

"Oh." Dustin sighs, "Who?"

Max looks down, not meeting the other boy's eyes, "Lucas." He mumbles.

"Oh. Um- yeah, it's- it's fine." His voice breaks as he says it. Then he turns away, continuing to walk to class.

Max feels really bad, but he's excited to go to the Snowball with Lucas.

December 14th, 1984

Mike's in his room, getting ready for the Snowball. He glances over at the clock, blinking red in the dark room. It's seven o'clock at night. Quickly, he changes out of his normal clothes, into the suit he begged his mom for. Once he changes, he turns the lights back on, puts on his shoes, and looks in the mirror.

He adjusts the suit. It was messed up since he had changed in the dark, but he struggles to get changed any other way. The dark blue suit looks nice on him. He had begged his mother for a suit, saying that he hated the feel of dresses since they were so itchy. Which, wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't the full truth either.

That's the thing about keeping a secret; the little white lies are important to success.

Mike combs his hair with his fingers, getting the tangles out. Max had cut his hair just below his ears, and it suited him nicely. His parents had questioned it at first, but he just shrugged and said that it was easier to manage when it was short.

Again, a white lie.

Out of habit, he twirls in the mirror. He smiles, proud of how much he looks like a boy.

Downstairs, there's a knock on the door. A familiar rhythm that can only be one person. Mike rushes out of his room and down the stairs. "I'll get it!" He yells.

He opens the door. Standing in front of him is Will, dressed in a pale yellow suit, holding something behind his back. "Hi." Will says.

"Hi." Mike breathes out, "Whatcha got there?" He asks.

Will pulls his arm around, revealing a small bouquet of blue and yellow flowers. They're wrapped together with a green string tied in a beautiful bow.

"You got me flowers?" Mike gasps. Will nods, and Mike takes the bouquet. He steps forward and hugs Will, holding the flowers out, careful not to ruin them. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Will smiles, embracing Mike again, "You look handsome, by the way."

Mike might just pass out. Will's so kind, and loves him so much. He hides his face in Will's chest. "Thank you." He mumbles again, "So do you." He pauses, then says, "I love you."

Will pulls him away just a little, and cups his face. He leans down and kisses Mike's forehead, "I love you, too."

A car horn beeps, and they turn around. Jonathan and Nancy are impatiently waiting for them in Jonathan's car. Mike hadn't even realized that Nancy slipped outside past them.

They separate from the hug and get in the car. Jonathan pulls out of the driveway, driving them all to Hawkins middle school.

Max's mom is helping her- him get ready for the school dance. He is unfortunately wearing a light green, sparkly dress because he couldn't convince his mom to buy a suit instead. Max wants to die.

"You're such a pretty girl." His mom says, brushing his short hair. Fuck everything. Max thinks to himself. Girl. Girl. Girl. Is all that he focuses on, it's echoing in his head.

He wants to roll his eyes, but instead he's polite, "Thank you." Max smiles. It's fake, but her- his mother can't tell.

His mom finishes brushing his hair, and they go out to the car. She drops Max off at school, then drives away, not even watching him go inside.

Inside the school, he finds his friends. They're sitting at a table near where the fruit punch is being served. First, he sees Jane, dressed in a blue dress with light purple polka dots and a pink belt. She looks very pretty with her hair styled like a doll.

His gaze falls over to Mike and Will. Mike's wearing a dark blue suit. Max wishes that he had been able to convince his parents to buy him a suit. Will's wearing a pale yellow suit. The two boys are sitting next to each other, smiling like idiots.

Then, there's Lucas, waiting for Max. He's in a grey suit, and looks very put together. Handsome, really. He's looking right at Max, admiring him.

Suddenly, Max is extra self conscious of the dress, but he doesn't show it. He walks right over to his friends. "Hi." He says, sitting down next to Lucas.

Mike and Will wave, not really paying attention to him. Jane smiles, "Hey!"

Lucas blushes, "Hey, handsome."

Handsome? Lucas really thinks he's handsome?

Max blushes, "Shut up, I'm wearing a dress. I look like a girl."

"You can wear a dress and still be a handsome boy." Lucas tells him. "Because you are."

Max smiles, blushing harder, and hides his face in his hands. "Oh my god."

Jane groans, annoyed. "I'm going to go dance." She announces.

Mike laughs, "She's tired of all of your flirting, Lucas."

"Yeah, chill out, Romeo." Max teases, removing his hands from his face. Then quieter, "Actually, maybe don't."

The flirting is cute. He likes it. But, he had to take a chance to tease him.

Lucas chuckles, "Okay, I'll tone it down if you two stop staring at eachother. You look like hopeless romantic idiots."

Mike rolls his eyes. Will says, "I'll stare at my boyfriend as much as I want, thank you."

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Boyfriend? Max didn't know they were dating. They said they weren't that time at the arcade, but now... "Wait...you're actually-"

He gets interrupted by Dustin joining them. "Hey guys!" He greets as he sits down between Will and Lucas. "Where's Jane?"

"She went to-" Mike cuts himself off as he looks over at Dustin's hair. "Jesus Christ what happened to your hair?"

Dustin's dressed in a nice looking suit, a similar color to Mike's. His hair on the other hand... it looks really bad. His curls are styled upwards, with a bit of a curve at the top. He looks a bit like one of the students that Max had seen at the highschool, just... worse. Way worse.

"What do you mean what happened to my hair?" Dustin asks self consciously. "Did it get ruined already?"

"Oh, so you intentionally styled it like that..." Will mumbles.

"What?" Dustin seems really confused.

"It looks like a bird is nesting in there." Lucas tells him.

"Yeah, there's no way you purposely styled it like that." Max adds.

Lucas reaches out to touch Dustin's hair, but Dustin swats him away, "Dude! There's no bird in my hair! Steve helped me style it!"

"Steve? Like, Steve Harrington?" Mike questions. Dustin nods. "You're friends with my sister's ex-boyfriend?"

"He's cool!" Dustin argues.

"Yeah, but that's my sister's ex-" He pauses, then looks like he's dismissing a thought, "Whatever, it doesn't matter."

The song that was playing ends, and switches to a new one. Lucas grabs Max's hand under the table. "Wanna dance?" He whispers.

'Every breath you take.'

Max nods, then whispers back, "Yeah."

'And every move you make'

They stand up from the table and Lucas says, "We're going to go dance." He tells their friends.

Walking through the crowd is a little annoying, but eventually they get to the dance floor. Lucas carefully puts his hands on Max's waist, and Max puts his hands on Lucas' shoulders. They sway to the music.

'Every bond you break, every step you take'

'I'll be watching you'

'Every single day'

'And every word you say'

'I'll be watching you.'

Max stands on his tiptoes and leans forward. He kisses the boy in front of him, soft and sweet. They pull away and continue dancing. Max rests his head on Lucas' shoulder.

"I love you, stalker." He whispers.

"I love you too, Mad Max." Lucas whispers back.

Soon after Max and Lucas leave to dance, Dustin gets up to find a dance partner as well. That leaves just Mike and Will at the table. Though, they don't mind.

Mike leans on Will's shoulder, smiling. "You told them." He says happily.

"Yeah, on accident." Will tells him.

"It's okay."

"Okay." Will kisses the top of Mike's head. 

The song switches. A familiar tune fills the air.

'Why am I standing on a cloud'

Mike groans, "I swear this is the only song my mom has listened to in the past month."

'Everytime you're around'

"Wanna dance?" Will asks.

If it was anyone else asking him to dance to this song, Mike would have said 'no'. But, it wasn't just anyone. It was Will. "Yes." Mike says, taking his boyfriend's hand.

'And my sadness disappears'

They stand up and shuffle through the crowd, finding a place where there's not a whole lot of people. Mike holds Will's waist, and Will grabs his shoulders. 

"You must be an angel." Mike sings, having memorized the song over the past month. "I can see it in your eyes."

He looks at Will, who's smiling at him. "Mike, you sing really well." He tells him.

Mike blushes, "Thank you." He mumbles, burying his face in Will's shoulder. Then, he steps away and stands up on his tiptoes. He kisses Will softly, then just barely pulls away, their lips brushing. "I love you."

Will kisses him softly again, then says, "I love you too, Mike."